Better than Life

Pennac, Daniel

ISBN 10: 1571103171 / ISBN 13: 9781571103178

Published by Routledge, 1999

About this Item

The book is complete and readable, with all pages and cover intact. Dust jacket, shrink wrap, or boxed set case may be missing. Pages may have light notes, highlighting, or minor water exposure, but nothing that affects readability. May be an ex-library copy and could include library markings or stickers.

Seller Inventory # BSM.1A30H

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Better than Life
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1571103171
• ISBN 13: 9781571103178
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

Anyone who loves to read and wants our young people to develop a similar passion will savor Better than Life - an enchanting, beautifully written, and wise book.--Regie Routman

An essential guide to helping children discover the pleasures of reading!

In Better than Life, Daniel Pennac shares the secrets that all book lovers treasure. Delving into his experiences as a parent, a writer and a teacher, he asks, how does the love of reading begin? How is it lost? And how can it be regained? This remarkable book explores simple ways to create a life-long devotion to reading:how reading aloud can ensure that a love of books beginswhy it is important that children develop a private relationship with bookswhat "The Reader's Bill of Rights" can do to guarantee children value reading

This book reads like a novel with gripping anecdotes from literature and fresh insights into creating and nurturing enthusiastic readers.

From Library Journal

A best seller in France last year, this is a collection of short essays and reflections on reading and the reader by a former teacher. Pennac indulges in a sometimes philosophical, yet simple and practical reasoning that addresses many of our attitudes toward reading. He attempts to demystify the traditional, mostly school-rooted conception of knowing how to read. He goes so far as offering a "Reader's Bill of Rights," which guarantees, among other things, the right to reread, skip pages, not to have to defend your taste, and even not to read at all. Reading behavior in general, and youth and reading in particular, are prominent in his analysis. He points out that when it comes to reading, modern youth are often considered lazy and spoiled by the easier access to other media; by contrast, reading would seem to be a Sisyphean task. Pennac thus calls for a change in attitude toward reading. His style is witty and masterly, and the result will provide entertaining and engrossing reading. Highly recommended for most libraries.
Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.